Website a guide for exploring Finger Lakes region

Lick Brook gorge in Tompkins County is one of the areas featured on the new Go Finger Lakes website for finding hiking, biking, paddling and other outdoor adventures in the Finger Lakes region.(Photo: Finger Lakes Land Trust)

The website features more than 55 locations and 650 miles of trails across the 12-county Finger Lakes region of New York state. The site also has a mobile design with a searchable map, scenic videos, photo galleries, driving directions and trail descriptions.

“People always ask us where they can get outside,” said Andy Zepp, executive director of the land trust. “We created Go Finger Lakes to help people discover new places to explore outside of their usual rounds.”

A map from the new Go Finger Lakes website shows different wildlife areas to explore in the Finger Lakes region.(Photo: Finger Lakes Land Trust)

Among the 55 locations are state forests and parks, nature centers, rail trails and other prime conservation lands available for public recreation, including segments of the Finger Lakes Trail. The land trust recently partnered to protect over a mile of the Finger Lakes Trail adjacent to Danby State Forest, and the organization is committed to encouraging conservation through recreation.

Veteran outdoorsman Tim Starmer, author of "Five Star Trails: Finger Lakes and Central New York," helped curate and map the areas featured on the website along with the land trust.

A screenshot from the new Go Finger Lakes website for finding hiking, biking, paddling and other outdoor adventures in the Finger Lakes region.(Photo: Finger Lakes Land Trust)

Funding for the creation of Go Finger Lakes was provided by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation, Tompkins County Tourism Program, the John Ben Snow Foundation, and New York’s Environmental Protection Fund and the New York State Conservation Partnership Program, administered by the Land Trust Alliance.

Canadice Lake is one of the areas featured on the new Go Finger Lakes website for finding hiking, biking, paddling and other outdoor adventures in the Finger Lakes region.(Photo: Nicole McPherson / Finger Lakes Land Trust)